Leandro Mercado took the win for home manufacturer Ducati in the STK1000 race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, taking his points total to 57 to equal Italian Althea BMW rider Raffaele de Rosa at the top of the table. He is now the Championship leader by virtue of having won two races to De Rosa’s one victory, with the two so far taking it in turns to take the victory.

On a grid populated with Italians, the Argentine rider didn’t spoil the home party, taking the third win of the weekend for the Panigale 1199R and giving Ducati further reason to celebrate in their 90^th anniversary year after Chaz Davies did the double in WorldSBK.

The STK1000 race in Imola was a close fought battle for many laps in the first half, before Mercado emerged from the melee to be able to pull away and cross the line ahead of De Rosa and Calia for an impressive win for the 2014 Cup winner on his return to STK1000 in 2016.

“It was a great race for me and I had a very good start. I was able to push and make a gap, but De Rosa was very strong, in the first part of the race and also at some points on the track. In other points, I think I was stronger. We had a really good fight!

Half the fairing on Mercado’s 1199 Panigale R came loose on Lap 5 but the impressive performance from the Argentine was unaffected, not realizing the problem until arriving in Parc Fermé.

“When I passed him for the last time, I tried to push and be very consistent to the end to make a gap, and I felt great on the bike. My team did a great job. I didn’t realise there was anything wrong with the bike until I got here and I saw the bodywork!”

Mercado gets his first chance to defend his lead at Donington Park once the WorldSBK and WorldSSP grids are back in Europe after racing at Sepang International Circuit.